Police were called after fights broke out among tech fans jostling for position in the queue outside the Manchester Arndale centre for the new Apple iPhone.

Officers were sent to Dantzic Street, outside the Arndale Centre, after reports of a string of bust-ups in the early hours of this morning.

Technology-lovers had queued overnight to get their hands on the new iPhone 5 - with the first in the queue arriving at 10pm on Thursday.

But scuffles broke out at around 4.30am when a number of fans reportedly tried to force their way into the queue.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed it had received a number of calls.

A spokesman said: "We were called at around 4.45am following reports of fighting when people tried to push into the queue for the new iPhone.

“Our patrol officers drove past a number of times and saw a queue of around 250 people, but they could not see any disturbances at the time. No arrests were made."

But, despite the problems, bleary-eyed fans waiting to pick up the new Apple device said the overnight experience hadn't been too bad.

IT student Aman Wasti, 20, from Levenshulme, had been queued for 11 hours to get the device.

He said: "For every single iPhone, I've been queueing up the same day. I have a passion for Apple. It's the best phone.

"My dad gave me some money, so I also got an iPhone for my brother and sister.

His pal Zubair Akhter, 21, also from Levenshulme, studying engineering at MMU, said: "Up until 4.30am the atmosphere was quite good, but then people started to push in. But things were better when they opened the doors and the stewards came in."

On Friday morning, a queue of around 1,000 people snaked from outside the shopping centre on Withy Grove into the the Arndale's Apple store.

Shopping centre and Apple staff handed out tea and water to patient fans as they waited to hand over between £529-£699 for the model, depending on its memory capacity.

Kev Gilbert, 30, a railway engineer, from Cheetham Hill, said: "There was a bit of pushing and shoving earlier on, but generally the atmosphere is good because you are talking with people that have the same passion as you."

And standing beside him, Manchester University lecturer Siavush Randibar, 32, added: "There are two type of people who've been queueing: people who are passionate about the technology and people who are looking to sell them on quite quickly. I change my phone every two years. It's be best on the market."

Retired businessman Stuart Gregson, 57, from Ormskirk, said: "I got here at 5.30 in the morning. I want to get an iPhone which I can put my own Sim card into, so I had to come to the Apple store. I use my phone every day so it's worth getting up for."

The new phone, which supports 4G, has a larger, 4-inch screen and is slimmer and lighter than the previous model.